just obeying orders

Hmmm, now where have we heard that phrase before: just following orders?  Today, the Trump admin murderers blew yet another boat out of the water in the Caribbean, killing three more people. No due process. No evidence, video or otherwise. This is criminal behavior. I picked this one up off the internet. No link given.

“No One Gets to Pull That Trigger”

by Robert Hawks

Let’s get something straight right out of the gate: executing civilians is not warfare, it’s murder in uniform.

Dress it up with flags, medals, or press releases all you want, it doesn’t change the body count or the law.

The Nuremberg judges spelled it out in black ink and human blood eighty years ago: orders are no excuse for atrocity.

You don’t get to say “the President told me to” and walk away clean.

That defense was hanged at dawn in 1946.

Every American in a chain of command, from the sailor on a weapons console to the general in the Pentagon had better remember that.

Because the law doesn’t stop at the White House door, and history has a long memory.

You fire that missile into an unarmed boat full of civilians, you’re not a hero, you’re an accomplice.

You’re the man who pushed the button on a war crime.

And don’t think for a second that “it was a drug boat” or “we thought they were smugglers” will save your ass.

The Geneva Conventions don’t make exceptions for rumor or political convenience.

Civilians are civilians until proven otherwise, and you don’t get to “prove” it with a missile strike.

You give them due process or you get the dock, the one at The Hague, not the naval kind.

The Uniform Code of Military Justice already covers this. Article 92: obey lawful orders. Article 118: murder.

If you’re ordered to kill unarmed people, that order is illegal. Period.

The moment you obey, the stain transfers to you.

Every lawyer in a war crimes tribunal knows it; every drill instructor teaches it.

You pull the trigger on civilians, you own that shot for the rest of your life, in your nightmares if you’re lucky, in a courtroom if you’re not.

And don’t think time will wash it off.

Future administrations will prosecute if they want to keep the country’s seat at the grown-ups’ table.

When The Hague comes calling, and they will, the politicians will cut deals, the admirals will “retire for personal reasons,” and you, the grunt who fired, will be standing there alone, holding the smoking gun of international law.

That’s how it goes. Always has.

So if some president, Trump or any other swaggering populist, orders you to blow a civilian vessel out of the water and calls it patriotism, remember: he won’t be in the targeting room when you’re staring at an unarmed silhouette on a radar screen.

You will. And when the subpoenas start flying and the cameras roll in the World Court, they won’t be asking him who pulled the trigger.

They’ll be asking you.

The chain of command isn’t a chain of absolution.

It’s a chain of responsibility, and every goddamn link burns when it’s wrapped around a crime.

The law of armed conflict doesn’t care about your politics, your uniform, or your rank.

It cares about the difference between combat and slaughter.

So think before you follow that order. Think hard.

Because the next time someone says “fire,” you might be hearing the echo in The Hague ten years later.

This isn’t ideology. It’s precedent.

This isn’t warning for tomorrow.

It’s the ghost of Nuremberg whispering from the past: No one gets to pull that trigger and walk away clean.

Mike Nellis

Tuesday night, November 4, 2025, was huge. A real blue wave swept from east to south to west. It's a shot of adrenaline and hope in a darkening nation. New voices and new faces will continue to pop up now and then, and it's only natural. Older folks die off and get replaced by younger folks. It's pretty essential for our survival. With all the internet garbage out there these days, it becomes harder to spot the good stuff. Mike Nellis could be one of those new voices.

ENDLESS URGENCY

with Mike Nellis

Politics and culture with Mike Nellis — your no-bullshit Democratic Strategist.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it last night as I watched Democrats rack up win after win. And it wasn’t about exit polls or some consultant’s postmortem memo. It was about the people—the ones who refused to let this country fully slip into the hands of the worst, loudest, most corrupt assholes in America.

Republicans didn’t just lose elections last night. For the first time in a year, they lost full control of the narrative they’ve been force-feeding the American public: that Donald Trump is beloved, and that resistance is futile.

The American people are pissed. They were promised lower prices—now everything costs more. Promised a booming economy—and we’ve got the weakest job market in five years. Promised a functioning government—and instead, it’s shut down. 

Health care is bring ripped from people while tens of millions are staring down hunger. And meanwhile? Republicans in the House aren’t even showing up to work.

But people didn’t give up. Over the last year, while the GOP tried to gaslight us into believing Democrats could never win again, we proved them wrong. You said: screw that.

And then you acted on it.

Every No Kings rally. Every special election. Every time communities backed each other when ICE came knocking. Every story of someone stepping up—like when Manny’s Deli in Chicago started handing out sandwiches to folks losing SNAP benefits this week. The retired teacher with aching knees still knocking doors. The union worker running his first door-to-door shift instead of doomscrolling. The neighbor who ran for school board because some MAGA lunatic was screwing up her kid’s education. The priest holding vigil outside ICE detention—not for himself, but because his faith wouldn’t let him sit still.

These aren’t just small acts of resistance. They’re bricks—the foundation of a democracy that can function again. And now, it’s showing up at the ballot box.

Mikie Sherrill stomped Jack Ciattarelli in New Jersey—the guy couldn’t have hugged Trump any tighter. Abigail Spanberger dominated in Virginia, and Virgina Democrats flipped more than a dozen GOP-held State Senate seats. Zohran Mamdani broke 50% in New York City, even after all the Trump and Cuomo coordination.

But this isn’t about any one candidate. Yeah, the media will spin it as The Zohran Mamdani Story because to them everything revolves around NYC. And sure—there are lessons to take from that campaign (honestly, one of the most joyful and disciplined races I’ve seen since Bernie 2016).

The bigger story is this: regular people—not institutions, not pundits, not influencers or party hacks—dragged these wins across the finish line. They kept democracy on life support long enough for it to breathe again.

The pundit class will say Republicans lost because of bad messaging or low turnout or Trump fatigue. The White House will act like nothing has changed. Fine. But the truth is: they lost because they betrayed the American people—and because we refused to be bullied into silence.

Because you remembered that democracy only works when people decide it’s worth the fight.

Because we’re done being told this economy is fine.

Done watching federal agents kidnap people off the street.

Done watching the president and his cronies rob taxpayers while millions can’t afford groceries.

But this fight isn’t over.

The people trying to break this country aren’t disappearing. Trump is still president. Republicans still hold Congress. They’ll keep mistaking cruelty for strength. While Mamdani’s numbers were still coming in, Stephen Miller was already online threatening more ICE raids in NYC. It’s going to get uglier.

But Tuesday night was a win. In big races and tiny ones.

And we’re going to do it again. In upcoming special elections. In 2026. In 2028. We’re taking this country back—and we’re doing it by building a movement we can actually be proud of. That means pushing the Democratic Party to grow the hell up and get tougher, too.

Don’t take these wins for granted. Let them fuel you. Let them remind you what’s possible. Let them prove—again—that we don’t just hope the arc of the universe bends.

We grab it. We pull.

So whatever you did, however you showed up—breathe it in. You helped build this.

Be proud. You earned that pride.

Whether you worked on a campaign, talked to a neighbor, had the hard conversation, knocked the doors, made the calls—this win is yours.

Celebrate. Then get ready to do it again.

Because the story of this country has never belonged to the people trying to control it through power and greed.

It belongs to the people like YOU who show the hell up.

And last night, we proved it again: democracy isn’t a noun. It’s a verb.

With urgency,

—Mike

Original.

anus tangerinus

Guest column

It turns out that I have relatives all over the country. Some in California, Oregon, Washington state, Minnesota, Iowa, Texas (of course) South Carolina, Florida, and New York state. And probably more than that. Posted below is a guest column by one of my relatives on the east coast. He's a teacher and pretty astute observer of politics. I hope to publish more from him in the future, and a relative in California is working on one for me.

Oh, and Congratulations to all the Democrats that won in the elections yesterday!! Democracy is still alive in America!

The GOP and Democratic establishment make you fear "socialism" because it is the only way their corporate donors can continue fleecing Americans without any accountability. They scapegoat immigrants and LGBTQ folks to deflect from the mass hoarding of wealth by oligarchs who control politicians and the media.

This is why a candidate like Mamdani is such a threat. If he can break through their illusions and secure power, others will surely follow.

But the problem Mamdani faces is that all of these forces, including the Democratic establishment, will want him to fail. They will collectively make it difficult for him to deliver on his vision for NYC.

Notice that he is attacked as a "communist." Notice that the vast majority of criticisms leveled at him are false, ad hominem, or pure fear-mongering.

"Socialism" is effectively demonized in America by conflating it with authoritarian versions, such as North Korea. A nuanced conversation around socialism is rare because most politicians won't dare acknowledge that socialism is often beneficial to a society. Socialism is a dirty word in America.

But almost all of us benefit from socialism. Public schools, public roads, public libraries, police/fire departments, medicare, and numerous other collective projects are examples of socialism that most people seem to forget are socialist.

Wanting universal healthcare, like every other major country in the world, doesn't make one a communist. It would not only cut costs, it would save lives.

Supporting higher marginal tax rates also does not make one a "communist." In a country where four men control the same amount of wealth as the bottom 50%, it seems both logical and just that we raise top tax rates the way we did when Eisenhower was president (they were 91% when he was in office). Was Eisenhower a "communist?"

Labor unions have also been effectively weakened by the same rhetorical devices and political strategies. A steady demonization of labor unions (one of the few ways workers can unite and build collective power) has worked. Labor union membership, thanks to Right to Work laws and the promotion of union-busting organizations, has dropped from 35% in the 1950's to 9.4% today.

How do you get people to give away their power like that? Use wedge issues like: trans rights, CRT, "wokeism," etc. to divide working class Americans and turn political races into battles that deflect from wealth inequality, workers' rights, etc.

Over the past several decades, the political right has won the war of words. If you don't believe that, just note that it is perfectly acceptable for a candidate to call themselves "conservative," but Democrats often have to go to great lengths the avoid being branded as "liberal" or progressive."

Consider that protecting the environment, raising the minimum wage, and affordable college tuition, truly mainstream ideas, are now framed as "radical."

There are certainly arguments to be made against socialism, but what I largely see from Mamdani's opposition are personal attacks, straw man fallicies, and red herrings designed to create doubt and fear rather than actually challenge his ideas in good faith.

Finally, the Democratic Party had its opportunity with Bernie and blew it twice. As a result, the GOP "rebel" who challenged the status quo won. He secured populism because Dems were either too foolish or timid to pick up on America's zeitgeist.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure Democrats learned from these mistakes. They seem incapable of reading the room or embracing ideas not approved by their corporate "lords."

But I am hopeful that the people will have the final word, and Mamdani's victory tonight, despite the entire establishment melting down about it, will be the beginning of a more honest conversation about "socialism," both its merits and its drawbacks.

You found your guy

Found this on Facebook. I too have been rather surprised that the Republican Party hated American with a vengeance such that they are willing to dismantle the whole thing for their own benefit. But what kind of benefit? If America becomes a totalitarian state, we are going to see a slowdown of almost everything, not to mention that many with the means and working brains will get the hell out of Trump's hellhole. Chances are good the billionaires will have to flee somewhere else too, because America won't cooperate with their bullshit. 

I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016, and this second time in 2024 given how emotionally toxic and depraved he is.

I no longer do. I actually think he won, for that precise reason. Because he had at least one fucked-up part to mirror the fucked-up parts of millions.

If you are a racist, you found your guy. If you are a misogynist, you found your guy. If all you care about is money, you found your guy. If you have an emotionally armored heart, you found your guy. If you make fun of disabled people, you found your guy. If you hate intelligent people, you found your guy. If you are a rapist, you found your guy. If you like golden showers with Russian sex-workers, you found your guy.

If you have not done a stitch of work on your emotional issues, you found your guy. If you are a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you are a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you don’t pay people for their honest work, you found your guy. If you are a hustler and a conman, you found your guy. If you mock people’s physical appearances, you found your guy. 

If you long for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you are dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you are unconscionable in all your economic dealings, you found your guy. If you lie day and night, you found your guy. If you have never eaten green vegetables, you found your guy. If you are a white supremacist, you found your guy. If you have a hole in your ego so big that not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you are a sociopath, and care not one iota about other humans, you found your guy. 

If he only had two of these issues, he never would have won. It was the fact that he had hundreds of them, that made him the winner. Because millions of humans are toxic. So they could relate to him, in one form or another.

It's never been about trump. It's always been about the people who finally have their twisted feelings about others validated. trump has given "those people" permission to disparage and hate their fellow human beings.

trump is only symptomatic of a much larger issue of a collective toxicity. If there is a single sentence that characterizes trump it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.”

That may be what is so terrifying. Who knew that so many tens of millions of Americans were thinking unconscionable things about their fellow Americans?

Who knew that tens of millions men felt so emasculated by women and challenged by minorities? Who knew that after years of seeming progress on race and gender, tens of millions of white Americans lived in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to arrive who would legitimize their worst selves and channel them into political power?

Perhaps we had been living in a fool’s paradise.

Now we aren’t.

No link for this one.

The Resistance Fixer